Bartley Heath - 30th December - Neil Frankum
Scrape the ice off the van windscreen; scrape the ice off the rest of the van windows; scrape the ice off the windscreen again; get in; start the van and pull out of the parking space; five yards later, stop the van, get out, and scrape the ice off the windscreen again; get back in and drive fifty yards before having to get back out and scrape the ice off the windscreen for a fourth time…… You might have guessed by now that it was somewhat cold this morning! It was also gorgeously sunny, which made driving difficult with the glare off of the wet roads.
Our task for the day was to thin out some silver birch trees along the edge of the main heathland area at Bartley. There was also a large stack of brashings to burn and a lot of tree stumps for Richard C to take down with his chainsaw. Alisdair was happy to find out we were going to have a fire. Unfortunately he couldn't start it immediately as there was a largish oak tree in the middle of where John had said we should have the fire. Luckily Richard soon arrived, the chainsaw appeared, and the tree disappeared. Alisdair was quick off the mark, and wisps of smoke could be seen climbing into the sky almost before the oak tree had hit the ground! The eight of us got stuck into the work and soon trees were falling, logs were stacked, and the brashings rapidly disappeared on the fire. Keith also went on to flatten some of the birch regrowth under the powerlines that had been the reserve task if we had had a large turnout.
After bringing potatoes with me and forgetting to put them on the fire on two previous tasks, it was third time lucky this time. After an hour buried in the ashes some perfectly cooked baked spuds emerged and were devoured by the hungry volunteers. All that remained was to put out the fire. The apparently bottomless pond next to the fire site provided the copious quantities of water required to put the fire out to my satisfaction. This to a background discussion of how out the fire should be put, if at all, and whether putting small quantities of water on the fire would actually make it burn longer?
Beale Wildlife Park - 23rd December - Neil Frankum
A clear and sunny, but rather chilly day greeted the five of us who turned up for a pre-Christmas task, most other people either finishing their Christmas shopping, or already away for the festivities. We were clearing the willow and alder that was invading the main area of reedbed within the wildlife park. Alasdair had marked up which clumps of trees were to be removed, and by early afternoon all of the trees with spots of yellow paint were neatly stacked up in a pile out of the reedbed.
Greywell Fen - 16th December
Heathlake - 9th December - Philip Allen
Up & scraping the ice off the inside of the van windows at 8.50 before driving down to Caversham Court to load up for rhododendron control work at Heathlake. This is normally a popular task, so decided to bring extra water, the full box of saws, as well as the winch gear as Lucy had said "Richard could play with it if he wanted".
When I got to Caversham Court, Judith, from friends of Mapeldurham Playing Fields, was trying to find the key to the garage (not in the agreed place) so she could set up the xmas tree sale. I used our keys to open up the locked cupboard where the keys were & helped move out the tables for cakes; bird & bat boxes; mistletoe etc.
It was nearly 9.40 by my watch when I left for the station but 10.00 by the station clock (my watch must have lost 15 min since yesterday lunch time when I collected the mail from the P.O. Box as the postmen were about to leave at 1pm, en-route to helping Neil, Alex & Laurence with the afternoon stint of xmas sales.) No sign of either of the people who on Friday evening at BeC's meal had said they would be there. No problem as I knew 1 had a car.
After following the directions in the newsletter (incorrect was 1.5 miles from double roundabout over humpbacked bridge) went past the track into heathlake as was expecting a sign to a country park before turning around the roundabout. (according to the map its less than 1.5 miles even including the detour to the next roundabout - Ed) Several members were standing around when I arrived, with some boys that Lucy had brought already tackling the 30' high rhododendron. After a quick tools talk we got stuck in, with Alistair in charge of creating a fire to consume what could be cut & dragged by 16 people from one plant.
Neil came in the afternoon, after running in the morning, with the mobile phone much to Richard's relief, and helped consume the baked potatoes, before we doused & taped off the fire site before returning home via a Pub, for cokes, & Neil's (to drop off his car so he could have the van for next week).
Caversham Court - 8th December - Neil Frankum Photos - Maurice Budden
We spent today standing in the courtyard at Caversham Court selling the Christmas Trees that we had cut at Wishmoor Bottom the week before. A total of about £450 was made on the day. This and the money raised on the other five days of selling will be split between ourselves and the other conservation groups in Reading.
Wishmoor Bottom - 2nd December Photos - Maurice Budden
Beale Wildlife Park - 25th November
Buxton -16th - 18th November Photos - June Wilson / Philip Allen
California Country Park - 11th November - Neil Frankum Photos - Maurice Budden
Hedgelaying is obviously a popular pastime, as there were twenty one people out on task today (including the rangers Lucy & Lisa and the two volunteers they brought with them). We got stuck in quickly, and soon several lengths of hedge were being converted into nicely laid hedges. Unfortunately there was more hedge than we were able to deal with, so Lucy had the enviable task of coming back on Monday to finish off. We adjourned to a nice Sunday Roast at the Swan in Arborfield to finish the day off.
Greywell Fen - 4th November - Nigel Mason-Flucke
We returned to Greywell Fen to finish or rather rebuild the fence, which had been started on a previous task. After the tool talk, and plan of action, we set about demolishing part of the fence, as the ground was deemed to be too soft. The early morning drizzle soon fizzled out, and blue sky was soon overhead, a welcoming sight for the late arrivers, who somehow managed to turn up just in time for the morning coffee break. For once, I was not one of them.After coffee and, of course, biscuits, we went back to work. The fence soon took shape, and by lunchtime most of the posts were firmly in, and barbed wire was being nailed to the posts. The lunchtime entertainment was provided by the Social secretary, with stories about rabbits, and also a demonstration on how not to light a fire. The task leader, even though Mark had not finished his cup of tea, then summoned everyone back to work, and by 5pm the last strand of barbed wire was fastened. A brilliant job was done by all, and hopefully the cows will appreciate how much time and effort everyone put in, and will not try and escape when they graze the field. The village pub was the next port of call for a roast dinner. Neil sneakily had the last of the roast lamb, and then had a rather interestingly named dessert. Before I left, I thought I had better check to see whether the van keys had somehow managed to find their way into my trouser pocket. Fortunately, they didn't this time. We then went our own separate ways home.
Wildmoor - 28th October - David Fiddes
Some good weather and an extra hour in bed brought out a good turn out for a return visit to Wildmoor. We were continuing the wet heathland restoration work from a fortnight before. Some people had a little more than an extra hour in bed, and there was steady growth throughout the morning as the six people who had started arrived at 10 o'clock swelled to 15 by lunchtime. The group made swift and impressive progress and by the end of the afternoon the fire site, which had been fairly central, was a long trudge across uneven clumps of heather, trying (and failing) to avoid getting a bootful of water.
A good demonstration of the depth of the ditches was given by Richard W. Whilst clearing one bit of heath we had decided that we needed a bit of botanical advice to identify a particular bush prior to deciding whether to cut it down or not. As our in house environmental expert, Richard was called across to help. Unfortunately, none of us had seen the ditch right next to the tree, and we were all somewhat surprised as Richard disappeared down the hole. Several appropriately chosen (but unrepeatable) words later, he reappeared from the heather, dripping, and commenting on the fact that waders would have been more appropriate than his wellies! It is also worth noting that by the end of the day he had ensured that the other leg was equally wet! - Ed
Waterloo Meadows - 21st October - Richard Wilson
Having agreed somewhat enthusiastically to lead this task at a time when maybe alcohol had reduced my inhibitions a few weeks ago, I thought it would be best to appease any potential disappointment by purchasing a large box of assorted biscuits and milk to provide for the hordes that were going to turn up - my mobile phone was busier than normal with eager volunteers willing to engage bramble with slasher on a weekend. Numbers were boosted by the presence of ten students from the University of Reading Conservation Group (URCG).
The anticipated twenty plus volunteers was a slight exaggeration, but this was mainly due to first year URCGers not turning up (probably alcohol induced headaches). Nevertheless 18 people did arrive on site to carry out the task of bramble bashing. Mike Cox is the voluntary warden of this urban grassland site adjacent to the River Kennet, and with a brief tour showing those who had not been to the site before, my group immediately and with little hesitation attacked the wrong section of bramble! So much for my demonstration of strong leadership - DOH!
Having reallocated ourselves in a more appropriate section, we set about the prickly task of slashing, hacking, and slicing the large stands of bramble. The purpose of this task was to reduce the area of bramble on site with the objective of allowing other species to colonise the areas that were cleared.
Unfortunately, owing to the recent wet weather, burning the bramble proved to be a slow affair and the fire didn't really get going until mid-afternoon (Alisdair - where were you?). As a result, my group's bramble was not entirely cleared.
At the end of the day, all of us reconvened at a pub near the university which was convenient for the students, and an enjoyable late afternoon and evening was had by all. As a result, hopefully we will meet up on future tasks and social events. I think that I can say that my first task as leader went rather well.
Wildmoor - 14th October - Neil Frankum
Photos by Maurice
For what must have been the first time in ages we had a task without at least one of our three most regular volunteers (Richard C, Phil, or Mark). However, we still had 11 people out on task. We were working for BBOWT on their part of the larger Wildmoor reserve near Crowthorne. When we arrived, Nick, (BBOWT's Assistant Reserves Officer for Berkshire, who was with us for the day), marked out what seemed like a huge area of heathland.
Our task was to cut and (as Alasdair was happy to find out) burn all the birch, oak, rhododendron and pine scrub that was invading the heath. Luckily we managed to finish the task Nick had set us by mid afternoon. Unfortunately this was just after the rain had started!
We then adjourned to the Queens Oak at Finchampstead before returning to Reading. The only other items of note were:
Ecchinswell Village Pond - 7th October
It RAINED!
£2001 for 2001
I was sitting at my desk at work back in September, when an Email from
our Corporate Affairs department landed in my inbox. It appeared that
Thames Water (who I work for) were planning to give away 21 lots of
£2001 to charitable organisations that company employees did voluntary
work for. Applications were invited from 'suitably qualified' employees.
I decided that the work I do for BeC, as a volunteer, task leader,
newsletter editor, membership secretary, and running the website
probably met the criteria for the award. So, with a bit of help from
Richard C, the application form was filled out and submitted. After a
couple of weeks wait I was informed that the application had been
successful, and that BeC was one of the 21 organisations to receive an
award (out of 50 or so applications). The cheque was presented at an
awards ceremony held at Reading Town Hall. This started with a lively
talk by Tracey Edwards MBE (pictured on the right), the yachtswoman who
captained the first all female crew to compete in the Whitbread Round
The World Race. A whole series of prizes were then awarded to a variety
of people and groups, for both company sponsored and external volunteer
work. The awards were given out at the end of the evening by Tracey
Edwards and Jeremy Pelczer (Thames Water's Chief Operating Officer).
The money will be used to fund the purchase of new and replacement tools,
safety equipment etc, and will go towards fitting out the new toolstore
when the move from Caversham Court finally goes ahead.
So a big Thankyou from BeC goes to Thames Water.
